Is it mad to be mates with a pigeon?

[AngelasLastEgg]

I’ve been working in the same place for three years and I’ve seen a very distinctive looking pigeon (mostly white with bits of grey on him) almost every day. I really love seeing him and called him Lord Westbourne as he has an aristocratic look about him (I suspect descended from dove gentry) and he lives on the corner of Westbourne Grove. I always see him in the same three places and have shared a bit of sandwich or cake with him on many an occasion.

Then he went missing for nearly a month, I was gutted and kept looking out for him every day. Well today he’s back!! Just bobbing around as if nothing had happened. Luckily I had a little pre-wrapped Madeline in my handbag that I was able to share with him and the couple of mates he was with.

I know I probably sound unhinged (it has been said) but I really love this pigeon having a slightly rough time at the moment trying to conceive and honestly seeing him today really warmed my heart.

Anyone else notice random birds or animals and look out for them?

Please, no pigeon haters. No one say ‘flying rats’. If you don’t share the pigeon love kindly move along

I have a soft spot for an older fox who lives on my road. I don't think it's sight is very good and it's a bit daft and soppy. Other than age and not defending itself, it is otherwise in good condition (it's probably all the roast chicken I've fed it!). It's also continously ambushed by younger foxes who literally steal the food from its mouth and physically knock it out the way and often quite violently. I discreetly feed it most nights. I'm not sure if it's a male or female but it is very beautiful and I do care about it.

We have a pigeon called Tony. He turned up a few years ago, hanging upside down from a bush in the garden - he had some sort of thread wrapped around his feet, and managed to get knotted into the bush. I carefully grabbed him and snipped the thread with tiny scissors, but it must have been on his feet a while, as he lost a toe, and another is deformed.
He turns up now and again, and I slip him some sunflower seeds

If you're "unhinged", OP, then I'm as bad ... I'm still upset over one of my collared doves losing his mate this year (found her flat out in the garden)

Now he keeps trying to muscle in on another pair and gets chased off, so I'm hoping he finds someone else ready for next year's season

just found some pics of my youngest feeding the pigeons from a few years ago

That’s nice OP! Glad Lord Westbourne is ok. I love pigeons. I think they’re so noble. They endure lots of things. Life is hard for them in the city particularly but they go on.

There is a wood pigeon who comes regularly to our garden. We have named him and always remark when we see him. A big joy in my life is watching out for birds and other small animals near where we live.

Aw this thread! I'm another one who gets attached to spiders living in our house. The latest was a small female spider in our bedroom who guarded her eggs religiously for several weeks, never moving or spinning a web. Then she died and I was strangely sad. I think it's normal for them to die after they've produced their eggs though. The eggs are still there, not yet hatched. I'm aware some most people will be aghast at my spider love.

NotYourDawg aww that’s adorable

NotMyFinestMoment that’s to sweet of you to help the old fox! It’s tough to be ah older one and start losing territory so I’m sure the food you give him is really appreciated!

Oh User I’m so glad you could help Tony! I see so many pigeons with deformed feet and missing toes, probably from getting things caught around them, it’s so sad.

Yes I do think pigeons are noble. My gran used to say ‘pigeons are very brave, they won the war for us’ which is obviously not strictly true but I always hear her voice in my head when I see a particularly noble-looking one and wish I could tell her about Lord Westbourne!

I have a robin I talk to and feed meal worms, thrown into the shed roof.
We also have 3 pigeons. During lockdown 1 , it was like a drama in our back garden. The pigeons are a couple and a young male. He follows the couple everywhere. The husband would chase the young suitor away while the female was flashing her chest - hussy. It was better than the telly. Me and partner would sit and watch the comical shenanigans of the trio.
They are still about now. Still being followed by the besotted youngster , the hussy of a wife and the angry husband .

Love this thread. Love animal lovers.
I always move snails out the way when they are in the middle of paths in the morning 😂 my friends laugh at me but I always think they're just waiting to be trod on. My dh says they probably all hate me as they're clearly on their way somewhere and I move them back again 😂 I think it might be true as there's not as many about near me so they must be avoiding me
I always name animals, me and the sdc imagine what they would be saying and doing. My dh never had pets until we had them but he always does this too now. He also tried to save a grey squirrel and was so proud he had taken it to the vets until he was told that they are classed as vermin so had no chance getting out of there and had sent him to his death. I did feel bad for him!

I find the only thing about all this wildlife pleasure is that they're eating me out of house and home, especially now the days are drawing in and they rely on the food

It began with just a seed feeder, but now it's mealworms, suet blocks, peanuts and suet pellets too - oh, and raisins for the blackbirds

It's like ruddy Christmas out there ...

Puzzledandpissedoff well clearly you now have to produce a suet, raisin and mealworm Christmas pudding for them all.

I always move snails out the way when they are in the middle of paths in the morning

I do this too, as do my teenage boys

It's lovely to see your DC feeding the pigeons @NotYourDawg, I usually see the little monsters chasing them round here.

I also feed the foxes. We had a family of them in the garden over the summer, the cubs were so cute. They've moved on now I think because I get a big fat fox who has taken over their territory. I still feed him though and put extra out in case the others come back when he's not looking.

You're not mad OP and the world would be a better place if it was full of people like the posters on this thread.

My DD is animal mad and feeds pigeons from our balcony - we had Derek and Dave for ages - who actually turned about to be Derek and Davina and their offspring, Daisy, has now taken over from them. We think Derek went to the big pigeon in the sky as he has been gone for rather a long time but had been coming for his breakfast, lunch and dinner (my goodness they can eat!) for some 5 or 6 years.

DS told DD that he thought Derek died from over-feeding as he was so fat he could barely take off. Slight hyperbole but they do cost a bomb in bird seed.

This is the loveliest thread!

We used to have a blackbird visitor who learnt our routine. He'd tap on the window in the morning for breakfast and show up throughout the day to hang out. We're pretty sure he told his descendants, as we had single blackbirds visiting for many years. Miraculously our cat left them all alone, and they didn't seem afraid of him.

A few years back we lived in a top floor flat, and I thought it would be a good idea to put scraps on the ledge outside our bedroom window when the weather was turning. We always sleep with the window open, and we both awoke to the loudest breakfast banquest –both sat bolt upright terrified they'd all fly in and cause havoc! Honestly, everything from magpies and crows to those tiny blue and yellow ones. It still makes me laugh whenever I think about it.

clearly you now have to produce a suet, raisin and mealworm Christmas pudding for them all

Don't even go there - they're spoiled enough as it is!!

I wouldn't mind so much but the magpies, doves an an (enormously fat) squirrel get on the feeders too, so the food lasts no time at all

DS ... thought Derek died from over-feeding as he was so fat he could barely take off

Sorry, but I've just got to share this ... during a very dry spell, a Florida lake I know was short on water and completely surrounded by almost comatose buzzards for days on end

Of course the wildlife services went into a tizz thinking they'd somehow been poisoned, but no - the shallow water meant they'd caught and eaten so many fish that they simply couldn't fly

We had a pigeon that came into our garden over lockdown 1.0. He would sit on the children's play equipment and just hover by the back door. He didn't seem at all frightened by us, and one afternoon we found him strolling around in the living room. After a few days, we went outside to find he'd died in the corner; I felt sadder than is probably normal so were the children. Anyway, I think it's sweet that you've made a friend

I love this thread. We have pigeon friends too. Mr and Mrs pigeon and Becky. The three of them are always hanging out in our garden.
Along with squirrels and various other birds but they remain nameless.

I get you OP.
I 'know' two.
There's Fat Pidge, when I've put scraps or bird food out in the garden, comes straight down, lands clumsily and heavily on our fence, with his great big belly, he has a check for cats, then jumps down to plough through whatever I've taken out. (He doesn't like apples though).
Then there's Limpy, when me and DC go into town and buy a Greggs, he, with only one foot but two legs, bit of a stump at the end of one leg, casually glides over and waits for the inevitable crumbs of pastry to fall to the floor.

I used to frequently see a one legged pigeon at Sheffield train station whom I was particularly fond of.

Aw my Gran had a friendly one-legged pigeon who visited her on her windowsill. She died in 2004 but I remember how lovely she was, even to pigeons. She was the sort of person who always just seemed to relish life (even though it had been SO hard for her) and I guess that came from the small pleasures she took in the world.

Ha ha nope. I'm mates with the local fox, she seems a decent sort

No! Not mad or bad at all!

We have a pair of collared doves nesting in a building where I work. There's lots of permanently open doors so they can easily come and go. They've chosen their nest site well; it's on top of some cable ducting above a strip light so it's usually warm and light when they need it. Most of the time they sit side by side a few feet down from the nest but they both sat on the nest earlier this year when there were eggs to keep safe. Two youngsters successfully fledged. I expect there will be more before long as pigeons and doves can breed all year round, provided there is adequate food available. Also, they pair for life.

I'm on furlough just now but I hope Mr and Mrs Collared-Dove are still there when I go back to the office.